One of the United Kingdom's largest array of solar panels will soon be completed at Bentley's Crewe plant.
The Brit automaker announced Tuesday that construction has begun on a 10,000-unit strong solar farm to cover a carpark at its plant. Once completed, the solar farm will provide 2.7 megawatts of power, or enough to cover about a quarter of Bentley's power needs.
The 10,000 solar panels atop the carpark will bring the total number of panels installed to over 30,000 panels as part of Bentley's solar energy system. The figure includes a massive 20,815-panel solar rooftop completed at the facility in 2013. Combined, the panels at Bentley's plant will produce enough energy for almost two thirds of Bentley's needs, or enough to power 1,750 homes.
The construction echoes the British luxury brand's commitment to energy efficiency and it's long-term goal to embrace alternative powertrain technologies for its future cars. The first of the bunch is the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid, which includes a battery and electric motor to provide 31 miles of electric-only range. In the future, Bentley may also bring an electric sports car to market or possible a coupe-like sedan based on the Porsche Mission E's platform.
Bentley expects the solar panel carpark, which has backing from the U.K.'s Innovation agency, to be ready in six months. When completed, the carpark will still have enough space for 1,378 parked cars.